Letter: Join school's fight to stop bullying

To the Editor:

Recently there was an excellent article about identifying and responding to bullying at Burnside Elementary School (R-E, Jan. 19). There is much to be learned with continuation of possibilities for reaching out to and teaching everyone about this concept.

Our young people are the future of our communities. We all can learn from them and with them.

It seems that there are three areas in which improvement can be implemented.

There is a program called Soul Shoppe (www.soulshoppe.com) that is excellent regarding an ongoing implementation of identifying and responding to bullying. Both teachers and students are involved in the elementary grades with peer monitors from the children who are trained to be aware of bullying on the playground or on the school bus.

As shared in the article, telling an adult is not tattling. An adult can facilitate assisting with the confrontation and apology of the ones involved to resolve the issue. All teachers and all students in the school are included in the concept which is an ongoing process throughout the year.

The second area includes the parents. Not only teachers are responsible for assisting with the prevention of bullying. Parents also need to be made aware of relationships within the family that could be sources for possibilities of bullying.

It may seem extreme. but parent education classes could be implemented with required attendance. These would include videos that could assist parents with identifying bullying within their own families and with friends of their children.

The third area would have required classes in middle school and high school to include the following concepts: communication skills, conflict management and resolution, and coping skills. All of these include concepts of respect for self and others and responsibility for self and to others.

They are relevant for any associations within the family, work situations and social gatherings.

Burnside Elementary School can be complimented for endeavors for identification and prevention of bullying. We can encourage the entire school district to follow this example.

Lynne Rigg

Red Wing

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